+ V i ' 4 T' The ERQUIMANS Weekly "Neivs from Next Door" SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 - SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 THE WALK TO D'FEETALS WILL BE HELD SATURDAY. Walkers will register between 8-9 a.m. at Perquimans High School. For more information, call Helen Hunter at 426-7998. 2 3 2009 Town to Cole to replace Parker on Superior Court consider Cole has been district court judge since ’94 By Cathy Wilson Staff Writer Hertford council members wiU consider next month whether or not to hire an ac counting firm to audit the town’s water, sewer and elec tric bills sent to individual customers. Town Manager John Chris tensen said the certified pub lic accounting firm of Pit- tard Perry & Crone, Inc. has submitted a proposal to audit individual bUls, recalculate a percentage of the bUls, review write-offs, analyze consump tion compared to billing, re view deposits, and review cut off procedures. The firm wUl do the work for $5,000 or less. Christensen said council win consider the proposal at its Oct. 12 meeting. The proposal is the result of the council members’ concern over citizens’ perception of utility billing irregidarities. Over the past few weeks, citi zens have complained about the high cost of utility bills in Hertford. Several citizens had their electricity cut off for non payment. Black citizens have also voiced concerns that they be lieve white citizens living in larger homes pay less for utili ties than black customers liv ing in smaller homes. Christensen and town coun cil members have said all town customers pay the same residential rate; only the us age amount changes. Council member Anne White suggested the town initiate some type of inves tigation into how people are billed for utilities in an effort to clear any misconception by citizens. “When they talk about white bills different from black bUls, that becomes a civU rights al legation,” she added. “We’re dealing with people’s percep tion here. We need to find out just what the problem is.” Vice Mayor Horace Reid said he believes part of the problem is that citizens need to look at what terms they are using when they compare in dividual bUls. “Their utUity biU and their electricity charge are two different things,” he pointed out. Some people may have compared utUity bUls (which include electricity, sewer and See AUDIT on Page 9 Weekend Weather Thursday High: 84 Low: 66 Isolated Thunderstorms Friday High: 80 Low: 65 Showers Saturday High: 80 Low: 62 Scattered Thunderstorms 47143 By Cathy Wilson Staff Writer HERTFORD — Longtime District Court Judge J. Carl ton “J.C.” Cole of Hertford has been appointed to replace Su perior Court Judge J. Richard Parker, who wUl be stepping down early at the end of this month. Gov. Bev Perdue announced Cole’s appointment on Mon day He officiaUy takes his seat on the Superior Court bench on Oct. 1. “Judge Cole is a person of the highest integrity, highly disciplined, and a gifted in dividual,” Perdue said in a statement. “His years of ex perience on the District Court bench have prepared him weU for the Superior Court.” Cole, who has been a Dis trict Court judge since 1994, caUed the appointment “awe some.” “I am very humble,” Cole said. “1 look forward to con tinuing to serve the great people I have been fortunate to work with these past 15 years.” Former Gov. Jim Hunt ap pointed Cole to the District Court bench in the 1st Judicial District in 1994. He replaced his wife, Janice Cole, who had been both the first woman and the first African-American to serve as a judge in the 1st Dis trict. Prior to his appointment to the^ bench, J.C. (Dole had a law practice in Hertford. He also had worked as a licensed private investigator and U.S. postal inspector. Cole earned an undergradu ate degree in mathematics at Livingstone College in Salis bury and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Long Island University in Brook lyn, New York. He received his law degree from North Carolina Central University SUBMITTED PHOTO Gov. Bev Perdue announced District Court Judge J. Carlton “J.C.” Cole’s appointment on Monday. He officially takes his seat on the Superior See COLE on Page 9 Court bench on Oct. 1. Community steps up PERQUIMANS WEEKLY PHOTOS BY CATHY WILSON The folks at Woodville Pentecostal Holiness Church provided the goodies during a bake sale Saturday to benefit cancer patient Elton Baccus and his family. Baccus was diagnosed in August with mesothelioma and had his right lung removed two weeks ago at Duke .University Hospital. Money raised Saturday by the Coastal Carolina Riders, the church, and other friends and family members, will help fund the family’s frequent trips to Duke for extensive treatment. Illness brings out support for Baccus and his family By Cathy Wilson Staff Writer The community came to gether Saturday to help one of its own. It’s not unusual to hold a fund-raiser to help someone in need. But Saturday, two groups combined their ef forts to host a dayJong se ries of fundraisers to help Elton Baccus, 65, a Perqui mans County resident. Family members say sur geons removed his right lung two weeks ago at Duke University Hospital in Ra leigh after being diagnosed with mesothelioma in Au gust. Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer caused by asbestos. His treatment will include radiation and chemo, family members say, which will require numer ous trips to Raleigh. The money raised will help the family fund those trips. Members of Coastal Carolina Riders (CCR) and Woodville Pentecostal Holi ness Church (WPHC) filled the parking lot at the Per quimans County Recreation Center with a motorcycle poker run, car show, barbe- Marilyn Baccus is hugged by a friend during Saturday’s fundraiser helping her husband Elton in his battle to fight lung cancer. “This is overwhelming,” she said, fighting back tears as she saw the large number of friends and family who came to the county recreation center to help her family. cue, bake sales, raffles and a 50/50 drawing to raise mon ey for a man who has given much to others. “He’s never been sick, never smoked; in fact, he and Marilyn (his wife) rode with us on the July 4th run to the mountains and he had no symptoms at aU,” said Marvin Fitzgerald, one of the organizers who is a member of CCR. “He started losing weight and got fluid in his lungs, and then was diagnosed with lung cancer in August. He’s always help ing everyone else. Now it’s time for us to help him. It’s come full circle.” Geri Owens said her cousin worked at a shipyard years ago, and was also a carpenter and a car me chanic in the past. See BACCUS on Page 9 HlNl flu mild to moderate - so far By Cathy Wilson Staff Writer If you think the Pandemic HlNl flu (commonly known as the Swine Flu) is not in your commimity, think again. Health officials say 95 per cent of aU flu in the country now is Pandemic HlNl flu. “It’s here and it’s here to stay,” Ashley Stoop with Al bemarle Regional Health Ser vices (ARHS) told Hertford council members recently So far, flu cases have been termed mild to moderate in severity, she said, but that can change radically. Severity is based on the number of hospi talizations and deaths associ ated with the filness. “We just don’t know,” said Stoop. “We don’t know what it will do this fall. It might stay like this, or it could get worse. It may get complicated this fan when the seasonal flu hits toot” Nationwide, health officials are neither testing for the vi rus nor tracking the number See FLU on Page 9 Man is beaten with bat By Cathy Wilson Staff Writer A 21-year-old Hertford man was injured last week when he was beaten with a baseball bat in the parking lot of a lo cal convenience store. Chief Joe Amos with the Hertford Police Department said Billy Bundy, of 617 New Hope Road, was hit in the head with a baseball bat around 9:30 p.m. Sept. 14 outside Park N Shop located on Harvey Point Road. Bundy was taken to Albemarle Health with in- jimies to his head by Perqui mans EMS, Amos said. Officer Josh Turpin was the first officer on the scene. Police said Bundy knew his assailants and the beating was the result of an ongoing dispute between the people involved. As of Monday, no one had been arrested in connection with the incident. Investiga tion is continuing.

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